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Now that we’ve entered October, the weather pattern is becoming noticeably more active. Today, Thursday and Saturday will bring weather fronts, moisture, and cooler air to the region. Areas that miss today’s rainfall though, will be prone to blowing dust from this first weather system. The best chance for rain at this time looks to be Saturday. Although rainfall amounts will be mainly a third of an inch or less, many areas will receive more rain this week than the past 3 months. The disturbance on Saturday will strengthen as it moves into the Rockies and keep the Columbia Basin in a northwest jet stream flow aloft sandwiched between a low pressure to the east and a ridge off the coast. Additional disturbances moving through the northwest flow will continue to bring a chance for showers at times next week. Corn harvest and the last cutting of hay will be slowed by the higher humidity and moisture. It also looks like some areas will be flirting with frost during overnight clearing periods, especially Thursday morning and again Monday morning. Soil temperatures at the two inch depth are currently in the upper 50s to lower 60s and will likely cool 5 to 7 degrees into the low and mid 50s over the next 7 days. Still warm enough for good germination of winter wheat. The next best day for field burning may be Thursday with lighter winds, but still good smoke dispersion.